1870s Martin guitar smashed by Kurt Russell on 'Hateful Eight' set

Andrew Cooper / Weinstein Company

A priceless Martin guitar was destroyed by Kurt Russell during filming of ‘The Hateful Eight,’ and now the Nazareth, Pennsylvania, based guitar maker will no longer loan instruments for movies. At right is a Morning Call file photo of a 19th century Martin Guitar.

A priceless Martin guitar was destroyed by Kurt Russell during filming of ‘The Hateful Eight,’ and now the Nazareth, Pennsylvania, based guitar maker will no longer loan instruments for movies. At right is a Morning Call file photo of a 19th century Martin Guitar.

Russell was supposed to smash one of a half dozen cheap duplicates for the scene.

The vintage guitar was worth about $40,000, Leigh told the London Evening Standard.

Martin received insurance money for the purchase price of the instrument, but "it's not about the money," C.F. Martin spokesman Dick Boak told Reverb magazine. "It's about the preservation of American musical history and heritage."

The guitar came from the Martin Guitar Museum, which adjoins its factory. The museum displays about 200 guitars at a time; it has a collection of about 1,200.

The movie is about a bounty hunter played by Russell trying to bring a dangerous outlaw (Leigh) to her hanging. They are forced to take shelter in a snowbound cabin in Wyoming, where all sorts of horrible criminals and lawmen face off.

The Martin guitar smashing was first mentioned by SSN Insider, while covering a screening of the film and panel discussion that included Mark Ulano, an Academy Award-winning sound mixer. Ulano told the audience what happened.

In the cabin, Leigh is playing an Australian folk ballad, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay." Russell's character at first seems entertained, then takes her guitar, growls "music time's over" and smashes the instrument.

"What was supposed to happen was we were supposed to go up to that point, cut, and trade guitars and smash the double," Ulano says, according to SSN Insider. "Well, somehow that didn't get communicated to Kurt."

In an interview with website Film Courage posted on YouTube, Ulano said Leigh was genuinely shocked.

"If you watch the film again, watch her face as the guitar shatters, and that's because she's seeing a rare and irreplaceable museum piece suddenly being shattered," he said.

Tarantino used that first take of the scene showing the destruction of the Martin guitar, Ulano said.

Leigh told the London Evening Standard, "We all thought Quentin was going to use a cheap prop but he used the real one."

Leigh had never played guitar before. According to publicity materials from Weinstein Co., Leigh devoted herself to practicing the guitar on set.

"I loved it," she said. "There's something that really focuses you about learning a new instrument, and such a complex instrument, really."

"Hateful Eight," which also stars Samuel L. Jackson and Channing Tatum, has been nominated for three Academy Awards, including Leigh as best supporting actress.

Emails to Tarantino's agent and the publicist for "The Hateful Eight," seeking a response, were not returned Friday.

Martin employs about 600 people locally. The company builds about 48,000 guitars a year, costing $1,500 to $11,000 for standard models. They also have models that sell for $399 and custom guitars that go for more than $100,000.